2016 BMW M2 Automatic

The lack of a clutch pedal barely hinders this express trip to driving nirvana.

While we tirelessly advocate the clutch-pedal-and-stick-shift way of life, we acknowledge that a well-tuned automatic occasionally can be the wiser choice. Perhaps stop-and-go traffic plagues your daily routine and your left leg needs a break. Or your significant other’s attention is tapped out by steering and smartphone tasks. If so, you’re a prime candidate for the BMW M2 DCT tested here, which delivers most of the joy of its stick-shift sibling with a few unexpected pleasures.

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Computer Is Quicker

Speed, for example. As is often the case with modern cars, the self-shifting M2 is quicker than its manual-shift sibling. An M2 equipped with the dual-clutch automatic transmission leads the way to 60 mph and through the quarter-mile by a significant 0.2 second. When you’re running in Corvette territory—4.0 seconds to 60 mph, 12.5 at 113 mph in the quarter-mile—two-tenths is significant. The auto-to-stick gap is more than a car length at 60 mph, stretching to more than two car lengths by the end of the quarter-mile.

MICHAEL SIMARI

The auto ’box wins against the clock because of a few inherent advantages. A computer is better than a human at managing launch traction, and the dual-clutch unit upshifts without interrupting power delivery. Also, it has shorter second, third, and fourth gear ratios. During our 30-to-50-mph and 50-to-70-mph passing tests, the gap is significantly larger (and not directly comparable) because the automatic nimbly grabs a shorter ratio while our procedure dictates to leave the stick in top gear.

The second benefit is potentially better fuel economy, rooted in the fact that the DCT has seven forward ratios versus six in the M2’s manual gearbox. The automatic has a 47-percent wider overall ratio spread attributable to its 0.67:1 seventh gear, which yields an additional 2 mpg, or 10 percent, in the EPA-combined mileage rating. Given the 19 mpg we logged during 1000 miles of mainly local driving, that 2 mpg, again, is nothing to sneeze at. It’s worth noting, however, that we averaged 20 mpg in the manual-equipped M2 we tested in California in February.

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Money Matters

BMW’s dual-clutch automatic does cost an extra $2900 in the M2, which starts at $52,695 in base form. With or without the automatic, an M2 is a complete driver’s package with a zesty 365-hp 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six, a suspension tuned to please the most demanding wannabe racer, and some of the best brakes money can buy—opposed-piston calipers gripping huge vented and cross-drilled rotors. The only other embellishments on our test car were $550 for Long Beach Blue Metallic paint and a $1250 Executive package containing a heated steering wheel, a rearview camera, Park Distance Control (alarms to tell you that you’re about to smack something at the rear), and Active Driving Assistant (cameras to help you stay in your lane and avoid colliding with a pedestrian or the car ahead). With red-and-blue M-department stitching and coarse-weave carbon-fiber trim decorating the door pulls, dash, and console, this is one beautifully attired Bavarian. There’s even a measure of practicality, as the M2’s rear seat is surprisingly comfortable for a coupe, and the backrests split and fold to stretch the 14-cubic-foot trunk’s cargo capacity.

MICHAEL SIMARI

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What the automatic brings to the party is versatility. Press the shift lever to the right and you’re in full-automatic mode with a mix of reasonably gentle shifts during light throttle and more assertive gearchanges at the 7000-rpm redline. Kick the accelerator to pass and there’s a feral whoop as the engine swings the tach needle to between 5000 rpm and the rev limit with a rowdy snarl through the pipes accompanying each upshift.

Pressing the shifter fore or aft puts the driver in command of gear selection. This requires rapt attention because upshifts are inhibited until the lever is yanked and nothing feels dumber than bouncing off the rev limiter. The third choice is to simply forget the shifter after the D/S position is selected; timely taps of the steering-wheel-mounted paddles signal the transmission when you need a higher or lower gear. Thanks to the miracle of modern electronics, there’s a perfect rpm-to-road-speed match and gearchanges click off in fractions of a second.

With 0.99 g worth of grip available, quick and responsive steering, and front buckets that comfortably restrain the occupants, the BMW M2 is a 200-proof driving elixir. The engine, chassis, body, and controls are all tuned to blast you down a back road or through a challenging track section with utmost poise and purpose. While stick shifts are great for polishing your heel-and-toe technique during eight-tenths driving, the automatic makes better sense when your hands are full of wheel and you need at least one braced leg to lock your carcass in place. For most drivers, perfecting but two pedals worth of footwork and gripping the wheel with both hands yields the fastest, safest path into a corner, across the apex, and out the exit. That said, now that you’re an expert on the reasons why this automatic can make sense, we promise to still respect you if you opt for the stick.